The Perfect Surrender

When Creator became creation
When Jesus came to earth
He humbled Himself in servant’s form
And naked human birth
Born to a girl and a carpenter
Crying and helpless He came
And that’s how He began the perfect surrender

When Jesus prayed to the Father
Facing the coming disgrace
He pleaded to God for another plan
As sweat and blood fell from His face
Submitted Himself to the Father
He said, “Thy will be done”
He gave Himself up to God in perfect surrender

When Jesus hung on the cross
When His blood spilled on the ground
He bore the sins of many
As mockers and revilers abound
He finally cried out, “It is finished”
And gave up His spirit to God
And that was how He fulfilled the perfect surrender

When Jesus came and died
And rose that triumphant morn
He shamed the powers of sin and death
And demons felt His scorn
The barrier broke on the day He died
The curtain between God and man
Now we are reconciled through His perfect surrender

I thought about writing a big Easter post, but then I thought of this song of mine. The lyrics are appropriate for Easter, no?

I wrote this song a while ago when looking for words for a title. While skimming through Mere Christianity, I came across the phrase "the perfect surrender." From there, the lyrics pretty much flowed out. The idea was to tell the story of Jesus' surrender and death and proclaim what he accomplished: redemption for his people. It doesn't mention how his life provided the perfect righteous he would give to us, but you can't do everything in one song, I suppose.

Here's an old, imperfect, acoustic demo version. I haven't gotten around to producing a better one yet.

You Are Not of God

Observations From My Study (John 8:47)

A few weeks ago, Tabletalk Magazine's weekly verse was John 8:47:

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

I thought that, considering the two posts this week, it was an appropriate verse. It clearly states that only those who are of God hear his words - that is, understand and follow them. The Reformation Study Bible says about this verse: "Sin paralyzes our spiritual senses. Only an act of God’s grace enables a sinner to hear His voice."

This is a common theme throughout the book of John. In John 10:26 Jesus says to the Pharisees, "You do not believe because you are not among my sheep." In 18:37 he says to Pilate, "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Then in 1 John 4:6 the apostle writes, "Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us." People often call John the Apostle of Love; I almost think he should be called the Apostle of Election, because I think the clearest case for election can be made from John 6.

It's so clear. Why don't we accept it?

Elect, Raise Up Your Voice to God

Before Creation, God ordained
To save His Son’s dear bride
Then Jesus came and died for her
To make her purified

[REFRAIN]
Elect, raise up your voice to God
Who Sov’reignly decreed
To heal your heart and make you new
From sin to set you free

Though we are undeserving fools
Unworthy and disgraced
He met God’s justice on the cross
And poured on us His grace

The sheep the Father gives to Him
Will come to Him one day
And all who rest inside His hand
Shall ne’er be cast away

No, not by works nor merit earned
Have Christians been restored
But we can rest assured in
The mercy of our Lord

I'm particularly happy about this song because it's essentially the Five Points of Calvinism set to song. That was the goal: to word the Five Points in a way that every person who calls himself a Christian would have to agree with them. We were undeservedly saved by a sovereign God who keeps us in his hand for all eternity and sanctifies us every day. What's wrong with that? If you ask me, it sounds like orthodox, historical, Biblical Christianity. And, in the humble opinion of this blogger, that's exactly what it is.

A Heritage of Faith

This week, Pastor Karl's sermon was on 2 Timothy 1:3-5:

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. (ESV)

(For those who read that and realize it sounds different from what Pastor Karl himself read, remember that he uses the HCSB and I use the ESV. Both are great in my opinion.)

After this, he went on an exposition of how Timothy's mother and grandmother taught him and built a foundation, then how Paul built on that foundation and helped to bring us Timothy, pastor of the Ephesian church. I'm not going to go on an explanation or criticism of the sermon; frankly, I think it was great and perfectly clear by itself as usual. Rather, I just wanted to post my own thoughts about how some of those things have applied in my own life.

One thing Pastor Karl talked about was how parents build a foundation for a child's life, then it is often built upon by others later on. I've seen that in my own life; although I strongly disagree with several of the theological distinctions my parents have, and still do, adhere to (Pentecostalism, for those who are curious), they still built a foundation in my life. I was raised in Christianity, in the church. Most of my friends from the old days attended the same churches I did as a kid, so I was generally surrounded by a church culture. I wasn't sheltered, but I knew a lot of Christian families who I learned from in those days.

In addition, I was homeschooled because my parents we're simply fed up with the public school system. My parents chose to give my sister and I an education from a Christian worldview, which I think was the right and Biblical decision (see Deut. 6:4-9). In my teenage years when I joined various groups outside of the church, and when I got a job, and when I went off to college, when I found myself surrounded by people my age who held to very different views than I did, that foundation held.

But that foundation is not all that I have had in my life. Later on, my family and I simply could not find a church to call home. When I started dating Sarrah, I decided to check out her church, and found it to be great. Over time, however, I realized this church held to very different views than the churches I had attended in the past with my parents: this church was Calvinist, which was a byword to other Christians I knew. I remember in school reading about Calvin and not liking him much, which wasn't my Mom's fault; it was what the school program we had chosen wrote about him. It was because I didn't agree with some things I remember learned that he taught (like dancing was a sin). I probably read good things about him too, but I didn't retain them if I did.

While attending this church, I found myself surrounded by people who were doing this thing I couldn't remember seeing before: talking theology. Looking back, I realize I was around this for most of my life, but at the time it was a novel thing to me. I realized there were a lot of things that people disagreed over, like Calvinism and Arminianism, baptism, etc.

I also remember having a conversation with my brother-in-law, who told me he was a neo-Calvinist (which I still don't quite understand the meaning of). This was odd to me because I thought that Calvinism was some weird, horrible, fringe, un-Christian thing, but I certainly didn't think that of him.

Sarrah and I got engaged around this time, which would entail having children someday, which would entail raising them in the Christian faith.

All of this led me to the conclusion that I really needed to get myself straight. I realized I had possibly misunderstood a lot of things about Christianity and I needed to learn what was right. I needed to actually start reading that book I had never been good about reading - the Bible - and figure out what the heck it actually taught. In addition, I deliberately exposed myself to the teaching of the other side - the Calvinists - so I could understand what it was they actually taught and find out if there was anything to it. It was when I heard John Piper reference Acts 13:48 that I became convinced there was:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

After I heard this, I grabbed my Bible to see if this verse actually existed. As it turned out, it did. I felt an interesting serenity at this; there was the answer. It was so clear, so simple. Later on as I read the Bible I became more convinced, and to this day I have found no reason to reject it.

My parents built the foundation of Christianity in general, and then the particulars were built upon by others later, all of which led to the theological titan you see before you (please read the dripping sarcasm in that last part).

So what about my own kids? I'm gonna be a dad soon, so this sermon had other impacts on me as well. I particularly liked the term "heritage of faith" that Pastor Karl used in his sermon. I want to establish a Reformed heritage of faith in my family. As far back as I know, that hasn't existed in my family before now. I'm pretty sure any heritage of faith at all started with my grandparents, who are also Pentecostal, which is about as far from Reformed as you can get while still being Protestant. But I've been so convicted that Reformed theology is nothing other than Biblical Christianity that I want my kids to be raised in it and to learn it from the get-go. I want to instill them the love of reading the Bible regularly that I didn't have as a kid (which was due to my own laziness) so that they know these things to be true. I want them to read deeply and with understanding, and not only read but pray, and pray genuinely, realizing that there is a God who wants to save them, to justify them, to sanctify them for his work. I need to get to praying for all of that.

We Will Cordially Unite/No Hope But In Him

Quotes from Old, Dead Dudes (3/16/12)

The following is a conversation between Charles Simeon and John Welsey. The original quote on desiringgod.org doesn't give the names in front of each quote, but it's obvious in context who is who. Since their permission policy does not allow me to alter any quotes taken from their website, I have chosen to color all of Simeon's quotes orange while all of Welsey's words are normal.

Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?

Yes, I do indeed.

And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

Yes, solely through Christ.

But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?

No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?

No.

What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?

Yes, altogether.

And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?

Yes, I have no hope but in Him.

Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election, my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we agree.

Source: H.C.G. Moule, Charles Simeon, London: InterVarsity, 1948, 79f; quoted from: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/brothers-we-must-not-mind-a-little-suffering

Calvinism According to Jesus

I once said I'd probably never write a post on Calvinism. I've implied heavily throughout my blog that I'm a Calvinist, but I've never really taken the time to explain why.

Until now.

I've decided to take up the challenge of explaining Calvinism from the perspective of Jesus Himself. That is to say, I want to use only verses that are the words that Jesus spoke while He was on earth in human form.

I know, I know, Jesus never spoke of Calvinism because it wasn't called that back in those days. But I think that Calvinism comes closest to the things that Jesus taught in His time on earth. So, here we go.

For review, I'll list the Five Points of Calvinism:

1. Total Depravity
2. Unconditional Election
3. Limited Atonement
4. Irresistible Grace
5. Perseverance of the Saints
   

This won't be a point-by-point discussion because the Five Points are all related to one another.

Now, John 14:6 is a verse that any Christian - Calvinist, Arminian or otherwise - will agree with. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" This is pretty basic stuff. There is exactly one way to be reconciled to the Father, and that is through the saving life and work of Jesus. No Christian would ever dispute this fact. They also would fully agree with Jesus when He said, "No one is good except God alone" (Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19).

But if we look back at John 6, we start getting into some interesting territory. Jesus said to a crowd of people, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (v. 44). Wait, say that again? "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." So now we have that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, and that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws a person to Jesus in the first place. This seems like a paradox, doesn't it? When I see these verses together - and they do fully correlate with one another - I see that we are not only incapable of going to the Father but through Christ, but that we are unwilling to come to Christ to get to the Father. But then the Father draws us anyway, inviting us to reconciliation, justification, and ultimate glorification.

Okay, that makes sense. But doesn't that leave it open to the possibility that the Father just draws everyone and leaves it up to everyone else to choose if they want to come? Well, maybe it does by itself. But there are other verses to consider.

The next verse we'll look at is John 6:37: "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." ALL of them. Every person who the Father gives to Jesus will come to Him, and Jesus will never, ever throw them away. And why would the Father truly (the theologians use the word "effectually") draw anyone to Jesus without giving them to Him?

But then there's one last possibility. Jesus said He'll never cast out those the Father gives Him. But couldn't they just walk away by themselves? Not if you look at this statement from Jesus:

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:38-40)

It is the Father's will that Jesus will lose no one who He gives to Him. And if someone can just walk away, Jesus has lost that person. That's contradictory to Scripture.

Another point I feel must be made, because someone will probably bring this up, is that this passage says "that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life." Everyone who believes will have eternal life. And that's true, I don't dispute that at all. But another important part is that everyone who believes will have eternal life. Only everyone who believes will have eternal life. And if we are not good and completely incapable of getting to the Father or going to Christ on our own, but the Father draws people to Christ (all of whom will go to Him) and gives them to Him, who will ensure that they will never, ever be lost, how on earth can our belief be anything other than a gift from God?

That is why I am a Five-Point Calvinist. Trust me, it wasn't easy for me to accept this at first. It took a lot of research, and I'm not easily convinced of things with without some convincing proof. But the above, along with other verses in books other than the four Gospels, convinced me.

Upward I Look

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin 

When the band and I were playing "Before the Throne of God Above" during church today, I realized that this verse in the song practically describes me.

I'm one of those kinds of people who has a hard time with guilt and shame. When I've sinned and I know it, when I hurt people, I get very down on myself. I beat myself up, call myself horrible names while looking in the mirror...it's not pretty. I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I've only recently realized that it was Satan getting at me and prodding me in all my weak points, telling me that I can never be redeemed, I can't amount to anything, etc. Thinking about this causes me incredible and deep despair.

But lately I've realized that the problems and struggles that I have are indicators of how much I need God. I, apart from God, am an irredeemable, wretched sinner. I've also learned that, despite how wretched a man I am, God saw fit to save me by the power of His Gospel. Jesus' death and resurrection have brought me to life and have changed me far more than I'll ever know. When I add this thought to what I said earlier, what I feel is not despair, but joy. God has redeemed me! He saves me every day and is sanctifying me! Why me of all people? I don't deserve it any more than anyone else.

Sometimes delving into theology can have great results.